Praedicator

Verba

Tuesday, March 5, 2019 - Tuesday in the 8th Week in Ordinary Time

[Sir 35:1-12 and Mark 10:28-31,972]

Peter began to say to Jesus, "We have given up everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in the prsent age: houses and brothers and sisters and brothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first." [Mark]

Today is Mardi Gras Day, the day before Ash Wednesday! I have lived off and on in New Orleans, Louisiana, for nearly 14 years, and have seen many Mardi Gras celebrations. It's not the day that one wants to hear about "giving up" anything! That would be for the next day, Ash Wednesday! Then Catholics all over the world will be asking one another, "What are you giving up for Lent?"

However, the gospel scripture assigned for today speaks to "giving up" for the sake of following Christ and bearing witness to the gospel. It is not a seasonal commitment, but a lifetime challenge. Peter's question follows Jesus' reflection on how wealth can be an obstacle to faith in him (Jesus). The wealthy man went away sad, "for he had many possessions." Lent lasts for 40 days. Jesus is talking about a much longer reality. The list touches on our deepest securities: relationships and resources. He promises many of both but first we must give them up in order to get them back!

The great spiritual writer, C. S. Lewis, once wrote: Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is of moderate importance." That really puts the matter squarely before us this Lent and every other day of the year. How important is Jesus' challenge? AMEN